Rochester's Interim Superintendent, Daniel Lowengard, presented his proposed budget for next year to the school board yesterday: $925 million, a slight increase over this year's $922 million. But balancing the budget required $40 million in cuts, including eliminating 326 full-time jobs, Lowengard said.

The residents of 447 Thurston Road and 967 Chili Avenue spent the better part of last year trying to get their landlord, Thurston Road Realty, to fix a long list of problems in their buildings: mold, electrical issues, sewage backups, broken doors, inadequate heat, and more.

When state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Attorney General Letitia James released the findings earlier this month concerning the death of Rochester student Trevyan Rowe, they couldn't have been tougher.

Literature as 'weaponized empathy'

Writers & Books' 2019 selection for its Rochester Reads series is "American War," the debut novel of Egyptian-Canadian investigative journalist Omar El Akkad. He'll be in town March 26 to March 29 for a series of readings, book signings, and book talks.